Closer Than Friends
by MickiStarlight
Summary: Pleakley decided he wanted some alone time with Jumba. He had no clue what would really happen... One-Shot, Jumbley.


It was still very early in the morning. Pleakley had woken up early and decided he'd get some things done before everyone else was up. He picked stuff off the floor, tried on some of Nani's clothes, and dusted. After he finished doing all that, he decided that he'd go and see what Jumba was doing.

He worried about Jumba sometimes. He always seemed so distant from everyone else. Like he actually _wanted_ to be... alone. A fact which continually saddened Pleakley, who cared deeply for Jumba. He knew what he felt for Jumba was more than just friendly affection. It was love. And he longed for the day where he might see Jumba return those feelings of love.

Unfortunately, the feelings he was having for Jumba were still considered "Taboo" by some of Earth's inhabitants. Strangely enough, Earth was one of few planets where its inhabitants were intolerant of such feelings, as he learned a little while after he first arrived. From what he'd heard, it was mostly due to an irrational need to follow a vague set of rules set by a supposed God, which was usually the case for most of the cultures that were against it.

Even more unfortunate, though, was the fact that Jumba's home-planet (Quelte Quan) was also one of those planets. When Pleakley found out about this, on top of learning that he previously had a wife, he was crushed. The chances of Jumba ever returning his feelings hit rock-bottom. After weeks of trying to get over him, knowing full-well that if he continued to have these feelings it would cause a lot of problems for him, he realized it was useless. He just couldn't stop loving him. But, since he'd never be as close to him as he wanted, he promised himself that he would be there for Jumba as much as he can. Forcing himself to resist telling him how he really felt was a whole other problem on its own, but it was all he could have, he thought. "Close friends" had to be close enough for him.

He was so lost in his thoughts that it took a moment to realize he'd reached the entrance of Jumba's room. He knocked softly enough for only him and Jumba to hear. Not wanting to wake anyone else up.

"Jumba? Are you awake?" He whispered. He'd already assumed he was awake, but he didn't want to risk waking him up if he wasn't.

"Yes." Jumba answered. The tone of his voice seemed to imply that he was bored, so it was safe to assume that he wasn't making a new monster. He could've been faking boredom to avoid raising any suspicions, but that didn't matter right then. At least, not to Pleakley.

"Okay, good... Would you mind if I came in?" Pleakley asked. Hoping to get some alone time with his favorite Kweltikwan.

"No! Not at all! Come in, my little friend!" Jumba exclaimed. Thrilled to have some company to keep him occupied.

Now that he had Jumba's consent, Pleakley gleefully accepted the invitation and quickly opened the door.

Nothing had changed since he'd last visited. Jumba wasn't very mindful of where he put things. As long as he could remember where it was, that was its place, in his eyes. It didn't make for a very tidy room, but it worked for him and that was all that mattered. Pleakley didn't mind _too much, _but he still got momentarily taken aback by the mess whenever he entered the room.

"Have a seat." Jumba said. Trying to be as welcome as an evil genius could be.

"Thanks." Pleakley smiled. But since there weren't any free chairs, he settled for just sitting on the bed.

"So... What brings you here?" Jumba asked. Oblivious to how much Pleakley wasn't ready for the question.

"Um..." Pleakley murmured, almost inaudibly. He didn't actually think of a real reason for coming into Jumba's room other than just wanting some alone time with him, and he didn't think it would be very appropriate for a friend to "want some alone time," so saying that was out-of-the-question. As he tried his hardest to come up with some sort of excuse, Jumba noticed how unprepared Pleakley was for the question. Curious, he asked,

"Is there something wrong, little one?"

The situation was getting worse by the minute. Pleakley knew he needed to say something, come up with something, but what? Maybe he left something there when he last visited? Did he have any questions to ask? Before he could think about what could happen if he went through with it, Pleakley asked,

"Do you love me?"

He immediately held his hand up to his mouth as if he could stop the question from coming out, but it was much too late for that now. It had come out, and so had Pleakley.

"Oh my gosh! What's he going to say? What's he going to think of me?" He thought. Panicking.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Now he wasn't even going to have him as a close friend anymore. He was going to lose the man who kept him going. The man that stuck by him through all the hard times, all the disasters, and all the wacky disguises. That was all going away, and Pleakley wasn't ready for it by any stretch of the imagination.

Jumba wasn't expecting this to happen at all. "What could he possibly see in me?" He wondered. "I..." He started. Not knowing what to say. "... need some time alone. Leave me."

Pleakley's heart was beating so fast, he was afraid it was gonna burst out at any second. Why didn't he give a straight answer if he wasn't interested? _Is _he not interested? How is this going to affect their relationship? These were all things he was wondering, in his head. Desperate to somehow fix this, Pleakley pleaded,

"Jumba! I don't know how that came out! I... I didn't-"

"Please, leave me for now." Jumba said, his tone unreadable.

Pleakley stopped talking right there. He nodded, and slowly left the room.

Jumba's head was spinning. He wouldn't have guessed that Pleakley felt that way about him. Especially back when they first met. They were practically opposites in every way imaginable. "But we've gone through a lot together since then..." He added. It _was_ true, though. They had bonded during their time on Earth. During that time, Jumba had noticed feelings that he hadn't noticed in decades. Particularly feelings that he was raised to only feel for members of the opposite gender.

He never quite agreed with that sentiment. After all, he was a man of logic, and he couldn't find any logical reason for why it was wrong. With that in mind, the feelings he felt toward Pleakley weren't initially unwelcome, but they only got stronger, and harder to restrain. Leading him to distance himself from him, deathly afraid he may hurt their close friendship.

This, however, changed just about everything. Now he knew Pleakley felt the same way. Now he knew it would be okay if Pleakley knew _he_ felt the same way. Now he could finally stop being afraid, stop distancing himself from him, and start being more open with him.

Meanwhile, Pleakley was pacing outside. His yelling earlier apparently woke Lilo up, since she walked up to him and said,

"Good morning, Pleakley. What's wrong?"

"Wrong? Oh! Nothing's wrong! I'm perfectly fine!" Pleakley insisted. Lilo had known Pleakley for quite awhile at that point, she could tell when something was bothering him, and something was definitely bothering him.

"Then why are you pacing outside of Jumba's room?" Lilo pointed out.

"Um... I..." Pleakley began to stammer, until he heard Jumba calling him back into the room. "Oh! Hey, um... Sorry, Lilo! I have to go now!... Bye!" Pleakley said, before slamming the door shut. Lilo decided it wouldn't hurt if she listened in on what they were doing and leaned her ear close to the door.

As Pleakley wiped the sweat off his forehead from that embarrassing situation, he looked back at Jumba, who was... happy?

"Is this what I think it is...?" He thought to himself.

"Pleakley, I have something to tell you."

Pleakley silently nodded. He was getting that feeling again, where he felt that his heart was going to burst out of his chest. It felt like a dream. Like all of the wishes he ever thought were unattainable were now about to come true.

"I have thought about your question for long time, and I have finally come up with an answer." Jumba said. Pausing for a moment to make it even more suspenseful for Pleakley. "Evil-doing doesn't always have to be big." Jumba thought, "It can be little things like annoying Pleakley, too." Jumba added. Giving himself a nice pat on the back for it.

"Yes. I do love you." He said, finally.

It was then that Pleakley felt like he could just die right there and be completely fine with it. It was all down-hill from this moment on, anyway.

"... Hey, hold on! Didn't you have a wife?" Pleakley asked, the shadow of doubt rearing its ugly head.

"Don't remind me." Jumba said, before erupting into a laugh that could easily have been interpreted as funny, or sad. Or both. "It was loveless relationship. That's why we divorced." He explained. With that, all of Pleakley's worries were put to rest.

It seemed like the moment lasted for centuries, but, in-reality, it only lasted for about a minute. Still, it felt like it could've lasted much longer, had they not heard Lilo shushing Stitch about as discreetly as a girl her age could.

"What is going on, Lilo? What are you doing?" Stitch asked, curiously.

"Shh! I'm listening in on Pleakley and Jumba. Now be quiet, or they'll-"

Lilo was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Both Jumba and Pleakley were standing there. Pleakley, had his arms folded and was glaring at the two, while Jumba just smiled.

"Didn't Nani ever teach you not to eaves-drop?" Pleakley asked, with authority.

"Yeah, but that's no fun..." Lilo replied. A mischievous smile forming on her face. Jumba's mischievousness must've rubbed off on her.

"You two go to the dining room for breakfast. I'll make it after Jumba and I are done talking." Pleakley said. Hoping the promise of food would convince them to let them be for the time being.

"Okay..." They both said in unison.

Stitch quickly made it to the dining room, but Lilo just walked. Not _as_ hungry as Stitch was, but hungry enough. Before she was completely away from Pleakley and Jumba, Lilo said,

"It's alright, though. I think what you two have is cool."

With that said and done, Lilo left.

Pleakley was honestly surprised, but, as he thought more about it, it made sense. Lilo knew how it felt to be treated like you're some kind of weirdo just for being yourself, so it wasn't much of a stretch that Lilo would have empathy for people like that.

After the shock wore off, Pleakley sighed. Knowing he still had a long day ahead of him. Before he left, though, Jumba put his arm around Pleakley and smiled at him. Nothing else was said. They just smiled at each other.

The End.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Okay, so I've wanted to make a Fic for this pairing for a long time, and now I've finally done it! :D

I actually remember reading a Jumba/Pleakley Fic where the author asked if the pairing had an official name. Well, I'm pretty sure it doesn't, so I came up with one! **Jumbley. **I hope it catches on! XD

By the way, the lovely Cover Image for this Fic was illustrated by RapunzelSkywalker. You can go ahead and check out her dA account of the same name. Y'know, just incase you wanna see more of her work! :D


End file.
